Georgia has returned to where it started. The Bulldogs reclaimed the top spot in our college football rankings and moved up to No. 1 in the updated CBS Sports 133 after an impressive Week 11 win over Michigan.
Michigan’s run to No. 1 in the CBS Sports 133, our comprehensive ranking of all FBS teams compiled by experts at CBS Sports and 247Sports, lasted five weeks and began with the Wolverines defeating the Bulldogs by a single voting point on Oct. 9. Even though Michigan caps off one of its most significant wins of the season with a dominant win at Penn State, our voters are eager to shake up the order at the top after Georgia’s dominant performance against Ole Miss.
Further down the rankings, much of the top 15 remained unchanged, with the exception of Penn State and Ole Miss, which dropped a few spots, resulting in some shifts. However, just outside the top 15, we see teams like Arizona and James Madison break into the top 20 after notable wins. At this point in the season, the top 30 teams face crucial ranking implications each week. Any increase in the loss column results in a decrease and simply avoiding that loss can result in an increase.
Of course, the opponent and the context play a big role, which is why a team like Utah doesn’t have to face a harsh punishment from voters for a narrow loss to undefeated Washington. The Utes fell just three spots to No. 21 following the loss, which is still the fourth-best ranking among three-loss teams. For some of the most notable weekly adjustments on CBS Sports 133, check out the Mover’s Report under the Top 25 chart.
College football experts from CBS Sports and 247Sports cast ballots each week that are averaged for our rankings. You can see the top 25 below and 26-133 on our rankings page.
| 1 | Georgia | 10-0 | 2 |
| 2 | Michigan | 10-0 | 1 |
| 3 | Ohio State | 10-0 | 3 |
| 4 | State of Florida | 10-0 | 4 |
| 5 | Washington | 10-0 | 5 |
| 6 | Oregon | 9-1 | 6 |
| 7 | Texas | 9-1 | 7 |
| 8th | Alabama | 9-1 | 8th |
| 9 | Louisville | 9-1 | 11 |
| 10 | Oregon State | 8-2 | 12 |
| 11 | Missouri | 8-2 | 13 |
| 12 | Penn State | 8-2 | 9 |
| 13 | Oklahoma | 8-2 | 14 |
| 14 | Ole Miss | 8-2 | 10 |
| 15 | LSU | 7-3 | 16 |
| 16 | James Madison | 10-0 | 21 |
| 17 | Notre Dame | 7-3 | 20 |
| 18 | Arizona | 7-3 | 25 |
| 19 | North Carolina | 8-2 | 29 |
| 20 | Tulane | 9-1 | 22 |
| 21 | Utah | 7-3 | 18 |
| 22 | Freedom | 10-0 | 26 |
| 23 | Kansas State | 7-3 | 23 |
| 24 | Iowa | 8-2 | 33 |
| 25 | Tennessee | 7-3 | 15 |
Biggest movers
- No. 19 North Carolina (+10): The Tar Heels suffered a quick and sharp decline in the rankings after two losses to Virginia and Georgia Tech. But after beating Duke in double overtime, a course correction occurred that moved Mack Brown’s group closer to the other Power Five teams, each suffering two losses.
- No. 51 Coastal Carolina (+10): When star quarterback Grayson McCall left last month after suffering a serious blow, it appeared the Chanticleers’ season might be in jeopardy. Instead, not one, but two backup quarterbacks have stepped in and contributed to what is now a five-game winning streak. With James Madison currently ineligible to play for the Sun Belt title, Coastal has a chance to become the East Division representative with a conference record of 5-2, and they will improve their overall record this week on the road to Army Take 7-3 (a game you can watch on CBS Sports Network).
- No. 53 Virginia Tech (+10): There is a cap on the rankings for teams with a 5-5 record, but the Hokies are 4-2 in their last six games, with their only losses coming on the road to Florida State and Louisville. With a 48-22 win over Boston College over the weekend, Virginia Tech is in a tie for third place in the ACC standings and is knocking on the door to the top 50 in our rankings.
- No. 24 Iowa (+9): The Hawkeyes continue to slowly but surely climb, both toward another Big Ten West title and in our CBS 133 rankings. The team is just one punt return away from 9-1, but despite that bad break, Iowa is 8-2 overall after a 22-0 win over Rutgers.
- No. 26 Oklahoma State (-9): Oklahoma State’s five-game winning streak included three wins against teams ranked in the top 30 and resulted in big jumps over the Cowboys’ rankings after a 2-2 start to the season. But a 42-point loss at UCF, which was under .500 entering the game, will draw enough attention to lose some tiebreakers against other teams in the 20s of the rankings.
- No. 37 Air Force (-9): Did the turnover-heavy first half against Army ruin anything at Air Force? The Falcons have fallen 21 spots in our rankings over the past two weeks after back-to-back losses as heavy favorites against the Black Knights and Hawaii.
- No. 25 Tennessee (-10): There simply aren’t enough quality wins on Tennessee’s profile to not make a big difference after the Volunteers’ third loss, especially when it’s a lopsided result like Saturday’s 36-7 loss at Missouri.
- No. 35 Fresno State (-11): Air Force wasn’t the only Mountain West title contender to suffer a crushing defeat on Saturday. Fresno State was beaten by San Jose State 42-18, a loss that snapped a three-game winning streak for the Bulldogs and left little room for error the rest of the way to reaching the Mountain West title game.
Check out the rest of CBS Sports 133: Teams ranked 26-133